Pours dark, yet a golden brown when held to light. Thin tan head that dissipates. It has a very interesting combination of flavors. Smooth caramel and chocolate with a striking smoky after taste. Very little hopes or carbonation to speak of. Overall one of the most uniquely rich non-stout beers I've had.

Poured from a 22 oz bottle into a Pilsner. First half drunk cold, second half closer to room temperature, which was better.
A: beautiful ruby-red cool, thick head with an aggressive pour but it did not last long and there was no lacing.
S: malt, yeast, toffee, and that aroma of Scottish hops which I assume is a big part of the uniqueness of this style. Smells a bit of bread rolls and a hint of vanilla and even brandy.
T: carmel, malt, herbal hops, then a bit of alcohol
M: medium, not chewy, mild carbonation.
O: a very good Scotch ale, not quite outstanding. This is a style that I really like, and have a little familiarity with. You should try it, if you can find it!

Tasted from a 1 pint can. Dark brown with red highlights; great clarity and appropriately wispy head befitting the low carbonation. Aromas are faint (the can being served ice cold didn't help) but I get a little chocolate and caramel. Good flavors of graham cracker malt, chocolate, caramel and faint peat smoke. Thinner body than I want in the style. Low carbonation level and light bitterness, as expected. Moderate alcohol presence. Overall, I was more impressed as the beer warmed. One of the best US examples of this style that I've had.

A: The beer is clear but very dark mahogany red in color—very dark brown when viewed from afar. It poured with a finger high off white head that died down, leaving a collar around the edge of the glass and some lacing down the sides.
S: Light to moderate aromas of peat smoke are present in the nose along with associated smells of iodine.
T: Like the smell, the taste has strong flavors of iodine and Band-Aid-like flavors. There are some hints of caramel and toffee-like malts.
M: It feels a little more than medium-bodied and slightly smooth on the palate with a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: This isn't a bad representation of the style. It's somewhat fuller in body without having very malty, making it relatively easy to drink. This is a good beer for a chilly day on the San Francisco Bay.

Poured into a MacAndrew's thistle glass. Pours a slightly hazy dark mahogany with a fine half finger khaki head with good retention and lacing. Aroma is bready and caramel malt with a light toastiness, brown sugar, dark dried fruit and a hint of cinnamon. Flavor is dry caramel with light biscuit malt with light breadiness, peat smoke, dried dark fruit, particularly dates, mildly nutty. Finish is thin and smoky with a distinct peat character. Medium bodied with good carbonation. A decent smoky scotch ale with interestingly complex malts. The finish is oddly thin and leaves the otherwise nicely integrated peat a little stark at the end. Lots going on here and with a bit more assertive malt throughout the taste would be a quite remarkable one. Good enough that I'll try the other offerings from this brewery that is new to my area.

Very random grab in Tampa, FL. Never seen anything by them in the Northeast so... might as well.

A- Tall boy pours into a tulip with a... ridiculous level of carbonation as the few ounces of beer produces an absurd amount of foam. The massive cap retains very well but lacing is rare. Hopefully not infected.

T- Again it does not seem infected but the gargantuan carbonation is distracting here. Smoked grains more reminiscent of bacon and seaweed than a burning log set the stage for cocoa powder, toasted nutty, caramel, buttery and toffee notes. Raisins are fairly prominent.

MF- Not so subtly hinted at but this is obscenely carbonated. Judging by how most reviews list low carbonation I think it is an anomaly. Foamy overall consistency to the medium body.

Seems like a good example of the style that drinks very smoothly for almost 7.5%. The flavors I get are balanced and well executed but for some reason my can is carbonated more like a lambic than a Wee Heavy.

Can poured into a tulip. Extremely dark brown with a hint of red and a billowing frothy tan head of four fingers height. Peculiar hickory smoked bacon aroma accompanied by the more expected toffee and raisins elements. Holy smoke. Peaty indeed. There is some controversy as to whether peat smoked malt has any real place in a Scotch or Scottish ale and in my own mind the jury is still out (historical or otherwise, see Ray Daniel's book on brewing beer styles). I will say that the taste is decent, perhaps better than decent. Subtle chocolate undertones, caramels, roasted peanuts, treacle, and yes, peat smoke that fortunately does not dominate as it does on the nose. Curious mouth feel, one is expecting thick and instead gets solid middle of the road, maybe a bit empty for lack of a better descriptor. Low key carbonation. Rather nutty, roasted, smoky finish. This rather dark take on the style is indeed growing on me over the course of multiple sips. Perhaps a touch o' the bog isn't such a terrible thing.

A: Maybe half a finger's head. Fades immediately to nothing. And, I mean nothing. Some very slight sheeting. Very deep red, with a brownish hue. Yellow in the dimple, with flecks in it (hard to pin down a color, it seems to reflect the yellow).

S: Coffee is the first thing I get. Medium roast. That's it, so far. I'll let it warm up, just in case. A bit of bittersweet chocolate. Slight molasses.

T/MF: Very dark flavor. I was expecting something more akin to a malty red, but this is closer to a porter. Char, like on toast from a bad toaster. Though, not as unpleasant in beer form. Maybe, a little ash. Some kind of floral/potpourri note. Burnt toffee.

If this is all typical of Scotch ales, count me out, but I suspect it's not.

Bought at the Blue Dog bottle shop on a whim. There's no date some don't know what I'm getting into here.
As it turns out this brew isn't that half bad.
Pretty close to style but the taste is a bit washed out.
The aroma was malty with some chocolate notes earth and cream.
The appearance was a dark drown with a smaller head.
Taste is very malty hints of chocolates. I don't if its me or not but I think I taste some smokey peat. Or it could be suggestive.
Something in there is numbing my tongue.
A desent beer close to style.

A - very dark brown, thumb of tan head dissipated to a thin cover fairly quickly, few random bits of lacing
S - very nutty with hints of earth, vanilla, leather, but not really any peaty aromas
T - touch of sour funky peat at the start, but is quickly bowled over by big malty notes of caramel, roasted nuts, and old leather
M - medium to heavy body with a stick to your mouth feel through the middle, only note of the alcohol is a late warmth through the chest, nicely drinkable
O - heavy on malt and light on peat make it a scotch-ish brew that's only lacking a little, still tasty and very easy drinking

The peatiness is now magnified, but the smokiness dulled. Chewier and sweeter with a charge of butter caramel, toffee, and bitter cocoa. Malt-heavy now. Booze is creeping in, too. Savory meets sweet rather nicely. Good temper. Decently creamy body, but not that heavy-duty kind of drink. Carbonation is light, appropriately so.

Pours a deep amber to a brown-ish color with a light tan head. In the aroma, smokey and peat like malts. In the taste, smokey, peat like malts and notes of caramel. A small bite and s medium bodied mouthfeel, with a dryer smoky malt in the aftertaste. Nice flavors, a mighty fine scotch ale.

Appearance – The beer pours a dark amber color with hints of red and a decent two finger white head. The head fades rather fast leaving a moderate level of lace on the sides of the glass.

Smell – The aroma of the brew is largely of a bready malt aroma, being a mix of toasted bread and a more biscuit like smell. Along with these aromas is a moderate sweetness consisting of caramel and toffee with the overall aroma being rounded out with some lighter smoke smells and a bit of alcohol.

Taste – The taste begins with a sweet and bready flavor of caramel and bread. As the flavors advances notes of smoke and some darker roasted malt and darker fruit flavors creep their way onto the scene. Soon after a little bit of peaty and a woody flavor enter the taste along with a light cocoa flavor. A boozy taste joins the crowd of tastes at the end producing a sweet, medium roasted and warming flavor to linger on the tongue.

Mouthfeel –The body of the beer is on the just above medium side in terms of its thickness and creaminess with a carbonation level that is on the average side. A slight increase in thickness may have been even better for the blend of light smoke and sweet, but the carbonation was rather nice for the both. Overall the feel was quite good.

Overall – A pretty average scotch ale but with some nicer qualities of smoke and a bit of booziness that step it up a bit. It is a rather enjoyable drink overall.

The CANQuest (TM) would like to thank the Friendly Greek in Lancaster, PA for making this and a couple of other Devil's CANyon CANs available to me recently.

I am flitting back and forth between comparable CANs from both Devil's CANyon and Rivertowne Brewing, which makes for an interesting CANtrast. Stay tuned!

The Crack revealed another brimful CAN, but I have become accustomed to this, so I am losing less beer than I did initially. Inverted Glug time! I got a couple of fizzy, deep-tan fingers of head but it seemed determined to fizz its way out of existence pretty quickly and accomplish this. Color was a deep, rich garnet red with NE-quality clarity. If I thought that Rivertowne's Scotch Ale smelled sweet, this smelled like it could put a diabetic into shock. Loads of peaty malt. Mouthfeel was thick and full and sat on my tongue like a dollop had been scooped onto it. The taste was MUCH more like what I usually expect in the style - dried, dark fruits; a mild smokiness; plenty of malt sugars. Phew! I may need to lie down after this one. Finish was equally sweet and while it is not my bag, I CAN respect it as representative of the style. I would prefer the drier version from Rivertowne, but to each, his/her own.

Arriving as a dark brown without much head or character up front, my expectations were modest but met.

The smell brings toffee with malt, without undue sweetness and notably missing peat or brine. The taste is true to the smell, mostly of dark malts. The mouthfeel is gently tasty, definitely leading to the drinkability that I would call the high point of this pint. Frankly I may not have even guessed this was supposed to be a scotch ale, but it was decent enough either way.

Pours a dark red colour, clear body. Traces of bead feeding a beige head that dissipates quickly. Lace is not overly sticky, but thick and nice-looking. Decent scotch ale.

Smells very malty, with a good belt of spice. Rye character, with oatmeal as well, brown sugar and some yeast extract as an unfortunate side note. Hint of dark cherry as well. Not bad, but par for the style's course and some undesirables sneaking in.

Tastes a lot darker than expected, almost portery roastiness and overall a far more brown ale kind of character. Brown sugar and whisky syrup note upfront, develops some vanilla, toffee and fig midway but a little intrusion by dry roasty malts, some coffee character and dark chocolate that are there but don't stick around to the end. Finishes more sctoch ale-y now it's warmed up. Lots of caramel malt and a bit of spice. Nice.

Bit of sizzle on the feel; bit of body, too, but the carb is slightly overdone.

M: Malty and creamy on the tongue. I'd say full-bodied for a scotch ale. Slight bitter/alcohol sensation in the throat but that goes away fast; not a problem. I actually like how the bitter balances out the sweetness.

O: A very enjoyable scotch ale. I admit this beer is 2x better on tap but I can still appreciate this from a bottle.

Another new brewery for me and love the pint can with artwork and detail bout brew which pours a dark mahogany hue with a creamy two finger head and similar lacing around the rim,the smell is brown sugar,molasses,caramel fudge,cherries and a nice hint of smoke just enough to let you know it's there,the mouthfeel is thick,sticky and moderately carbonated with tastes of dark fruits,brandied cherries,caramel,light chocolate and finished with a smokey maple syrup sweetness and overall not a bad Scotch Ale but a tad too sweet for my tastes but easy enough to drink and be great paired with dessert cheers.